HereForTheBeer: Shipping cost bafflement.

Ordered some stuff from Netherlands a while back. They received the items, shipped it to me on the 8th, and I received it yesterday, the 12th. Weighed maybe 4 kilos / 9 pounds, and not a particularly large box. Cost around $34 for 4,000 miles give or take, in 4 days including a weekend.

I shipped out a package yesterday, to go about 260 miles from my place to Chicago. It used to be one day for Ground service but UPS changed it to two days for Ground from here to there. Customer needed it today so I shipped it Next Day Air (which is still shipped by truck). $127.

When I go to the UPS site to calculate shipping of the overseas package, I come up with $320. I really need to figure out how these places are getting such great pricing on their shipments. Or why my pricing sucks so bad. Dropping off directly at UPS saves only a buck or two, so there's something else going on. The shop that shipped the parts isn't some huge place like Amazon, that can essentially force special pricing...

daedaliavallis: I routinely have to pay 25+ pounds shipping for small things from the States, like a collectors doll that would have cost like 5 shipping if I had been in my home state. I tried ordering something from Hot Topic once and that would have cost me $48 shipping for a ten dollar necklace. I'm starting to think shipping prices are scams half the time.

HereForTheBeer: Yeah, I'm trying to figure it out. Had one customer give me their account number for a shipment down to Florida from up here in the Midwest. Overnight shipping is normally around $80+ depending on the size. Their account made it less than 10 bucks. My local shipper was speechless.

Might have to lurk in the eBay forums to glean whatever tips I can from those folks. If they can manage to make money on a $1.59 item with free shipping, then clearly there are things for me to learn.

Tauto: Always get free shipping or I don't buy.Ebay is very good for free shipping and the seller can even be persuaded to ship for free,if you have a talent of sweet talking and sometimes a big stick works:)

daedaliavallis: The 25+ on shipping is FROM Ebay sellers, actually.

HereForTheBeer: Ordered some stuff from Netherlands a while back. They received the items, shipped it to me on the 8th, and I received it yesterday, the 12th. Weighed maybe 4 kilos / 9 pounds, and not a particularly large box. Cost around $34 for 4,000 miles give or take, in 4 days including a weekend.

Fairfox: said noone outside of australia

Tauto: What?

Matewis: I finally unplugged, possibly for the last time, my VAIO laptop I purchased in 2010 (snip)

AlKim: Not sure how things are where you live, but I would look into second-hand business laptops or refurbished hardware if I were you (and indeed I might in the near future). Some manufacturers even sell officially refurbished devices in some countries, so you get the peace of mind that it hasn't just been cobbled together by some aspiring enthusiast. Of course there's a lot of useless scrap around, but dig around and you might start finding two- or three-year-old devices for less than half their RRP when new.

Good job making the old computer last that long, though!